The Truth
by Swiftstart
Summary: Magnus calls Will into her office and reveals a secret that she's kept from him his entire life. One shot, mega headcanon here. Minor Teslen.


Will took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. It was time for a break. He'd been trying to make sense of an Abnormal case involving a shapeshifter who masqueraded as Britney Spears in his spare time, for the past two hours. He looked up at the library around him. Of all the rooms in the New Sanctuary, this one seemed the most like it's counterpart in the old Sanctuary. With its two or three stories of high reaching ceilings, thousands upon thousands of books and generally truly ridiculous architecture it felt more like home than anywhere else in the New Sanctuary. Tesla seemed to think so too. The vampire was fast asleep, sprawled out on an armchair with half a glass of wine in one hand and a first edition of Thoreau's 'Walden' in the other.

Things had been… different since he returned. Like for instance, he couldn't be certain but, he was pretty sure that Tesla and Magnus were dating. Which was a thought that almost made him want to check and make sure that his head was still screwed on right. Those two? Sure he was usually good at reading people, but Magnus was a different story. He could almost never read her properly. He could guess, and usually be close to right, but he was never as certain with her as he was with others. Henry on the other hand was an open book. And Tesla too for that matter. Speaking of which, he should probably save that book from potential wine damage.

He had just managed to pry the first edition from the sleeping vampires hand when Magnus came in.

"Will, ah, there you are."

"Magnus," He nodded at her as she came in, "Something wrong?"

She had a perplexed look on her face, the sort that when it came to Magnus usually meant that she was about to drop some seriously bad or inconvenient news.

"No, nothing's wrong," She replied shaking her head and smiling, "I just need to talk to you. in private." She gestured toward Tesla.

"What, you think he's gonna be a problem?" Will asked doubtfully. Tesla seemed pretty conked out.

"Oh please, you should have seen him back when we were younger. Eddison really should have known better than to discuss his business plans with him in the room." Magnus explained, "Now come. Before I change my mind about this whole matter."

"What matter?" Will asked, following the woman down the hall and into her office. She really enjoys the mysterious woman thing doesn't she? Will thought to himself as she took her seat behind her desk.

"Please Will, have a seat." She gestured towards one of the two chairs in front of her desk. He sat. Magnus' new office came off a lot like the new sanctuary in general; lots of white walls and furniture with clear (plastic?) detailing and well a general too shiny sci-fi look. He was surprised Magnus went with it, especially considering how old-school the old Sanctuary was. But then, maybe that was the point. A change of pace. This was the New Sanctuary, it was shinier and better than the old one. And it didn't have a hole in the roof. Heck, it didn't even really have a roof.

"So what's up Magnus?" Will asked, really at a loss as to what she could possibly tell him that her maybe-boyfriend wasn't allowed to know.

Magnus appeared to consider for a moment before beginning, "Will, how much do you remember about the day that we met?"

Well that certainly wasn't what he was expecting. "Which one?" He asked, "When you hit me with your car or…" He hesitated, he almost never spoke of that day. The day his mom died. The day he really met Helen Magnus. "Or the day my Mom died."

"The latter." Magnus replied delicately.

"Oh, well.." Will thought back to that day, it wasn't a memory he liked to go back to, but Magnus had to have a reason. "It's really mostly a blur," Will admitted, "I remember the abnormal- my mom getting... and then you,"

"And what about me in particular?" Magnus pressed, hands held together on her desk. What the heck was she on about? Why does any of this matter now? Will wondered as he elaborated.

"You pulled me away from where my Mom died for starters," Will was starting to get agitated, Magnus knew he hated talking about this, "Calmed me down, told me I was safe, got me to the police. Told them that I'd seen a bear attack, and then you were gone."

"Only I wasn't, not really." Magnus suggested, nodding for him to continue.

"No because then apparently the Sanctuary funded my college education, and probably some other things I don't even know about."

"And then?" Magnus probed once more. All right, she was being really weird, she knows all this stuff. Just play along Will, either she's gone insane, been possessed by some sort of abnormal or has a point to all this. All three were cause for concern.

"Then I got a job as a forensic psychologist only to be hit by your car."

"I'm still sorry about that." Magnus said smiling, before asking him yet another vague question, "Now Will, doesn't any of this seem odd to you? Any of it at all?"

All right, he'd had it. If Magnus wanted to play the cryptic game with Henry or Tesla then fine, Will though had been spun in more than enough circles before because of it. Heck, she'd built an entire new Sanctuary without him noticing because of the 'cryptic game'.

"What's this about Magnus?" He asked directly, tired of being treated like a fool.

Magnus put her hands together on the desk, the dreaded 'I've got a big bomb to drop' look on her face.

"Will, didn't it ever strike you as odd that we paid for your college education?" She asked, before adding "Paying for Harvard, isn't like paying for community college."

"But it was a scholarship. You felt bad because of my Mom." Will said completely at a loss. What did she want him to pay back all those years at college? That's like 10 years worth of bills. At harvard. Yeeks.

"Will, think about it. Have you ever signed off on college financial aid for anyone else who was a victim of abnormal related trauma?"

Will opened his mouth to object. But then stopped. No. No he hadn't. And he'd signed lots of paperwork for Magnus over the years. That couldn't be right… he can't have been the only one. The fact that he lost his Mom to abnormals wasn't even that unusual; he'd seen that sort of thing on the job all the time.

"No." He finally said, "No, I haven't." He felt stupid now. Like he was missing a big piece of the puzzle.

"Will," Magnus said his name as if she were handling delicate china, "I have kept more than enough secrets from you over the years. Most, I've revealed to you in time.. others I've let you figure out for yourself. What I'm about to tell you though, is something I'd hoped you would figure out for yourself."

Great. Whatever it was couldn't be good. "Magnus, listen, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually- I'm perceptive. That's why you hired me remember?" Will said hastily, worried about her suddenly. Was it something about Ashley? Something about the mad time travel adventure? Tesla? What?

"Perceptive about everything except me Will. And no, that's not the only reason I hired you. In fact, that's part of what I mean to tell you."

Now Will was completely stumped. Like, how do I fix the plumbing stumped, he had no idea what she was getting on to. Ugh, he never could read her.

"Will, I think part of the reason that you can't read me is because that would mean to learn the truth." Magnus continued.

"Magnus, I- what do you mean? You lost me there."

"I mean.. well.." She paused, stared intently at her fingertips for a moment and then said it, "What I mean Will is that I am your mother."

"Ww-what?" Will spluttered, thrown back in his chair from surprise. While he'd had no idea what she was thinking, he hadn't even imagined that. Couldn't have. Never. That was just downright crazy. He'd seen his Mom die. She'd been dragged away and died. Dead. Gone. Right in front of him. What did Magnus think she was doing, joking like that. You couldn't even say Ashley's name without her turning into a fiery inferno. What gave her the right to do the same thing to him?

"If you think that's some kind of a joke-" Will began, hands shaking as he clenched the arms of the chair; it was the only thing from keeping him from jumping up.

"Will please, calm down. I assure you that I am not joking." Magnus said with utmost seriousness. With Ashley seriousness. She only talked like that when she talked about Ashley. Or Druitt. Heck, even Tesla had earned the tone a few times. Whatever she was saying; she meant it. She meant it with her all.

"Explain." Will said, crossing his arms, locking eyes with her.

"Well it's a bit of a long story…" Magnus began, trailing off awkwardly. Oh no she was not getting away with this. She opened the door, he wanted the full tour of the room.

"I've got time." He said, leaning forward attentively.

"Well, hmm..let's see here.." She fidgeted for a moment and then began; "Well obviously you're older than Ashley.. would be. I had you before I had her."

"Druitt isn't- isn't my.." Will began, a horrible thought entering his head. If he was related by blood to Jack the Ripper..

"Oh no! Of course not!" Magnus said waving her hands as if to brush the thought away. "No, your father well, your father is the man who raised you."

Well that was a relief. Sort of. "And what he never told me?" Will asked, raising a brow.

"He didn't know." Magnus sighed, "I only met him because I was looking into the family of your grandfather Jack; I was curious and it was through that that I met your father."

"So then what, you had some drinks and bam?" Will asked, having trouble fully comprehending the situation still.

"Not entirely. your father and I.. we.. dated and we… and I" Magnus paused awkwardly,

"I can guess." Will said shaking his head, "But that still doesn't explain a lot."

"Not long after you were born, only a few months actually, a dangerous abnormal attack reigned down on us- your father was injured and his memory was critically damaged. Watson was able to help me-"

"What, Watson's in on this too?" Will interupted.

"Of course." Magnus said, "Now let me continue. Watson was able to restore your father's memories, but we were left with some less than pleasant choices."

"Like what?" Will asked, he knew that with Magnus unpleasant choices could mean anything from operating on a friends sick girlfriend without his consent, and going back in time but not saving Ashley.

"Your father hadn't faced abnormals before- not really. Sure he'd seen the ones we had at the Sanctuary, but nothing dangerous or violent. The attack by the abnormals broke him. They were telepathic beings and rather than attack with physical force, they entered the mind and showed it what it did not want to see. They showed your father things that only I can only guess at; abnormals doing terrible, terrible things.. to him and well, to you." Magnus' voice thickened as she hit that last part and while she was pausing to regain her constitution, Will spoke up. "So you stripped my Dad of any memories of the attack, the Sanctuary, and you… what about me? How did you explain me to him? And why didn't you keep me?"

"Will, I hope that you aren't angry with me for not keeping you. It's just that your father wasn't the only one hurt… and I decided that you would be better off living a normal life." Magnus said, her eyes showing a whole stream of emotions Will couldn't understand. But he could guess at one thing.

"Who else was hurt?" He asked, doing his best not to make to come out a demand.

"Will please, I think we've discussed enough of this for today-" Magnus began, only to cut off by by him, "Who else was hurt?" He asked it more assertively this time.

"You were." Magnus gave in, "The abnormals attacked everyone in the building. Regardless of age. You're lucky you survived. Your mind… your mind had been fragmented severely."

So he was right. He'd been hurt, that was why she didn't want him at the Sanctuary.

"How did I survive?" Will asked, almost dreading the answer.

"Watson had to resort to some less than ordinary techniques to save your mind; you see there were gaps in your cognitive capabilities, without which you would be little more than a vegetable. Watson however found a way to fill in those gaps." Magnus explained, pausing as she reached whatever the tricky part was that she'd wanted to avoid, "In order to fill those gaps, he duplicated parts of his mind inside of yours."

It took Will less than two seconds to understand that. Will's perception skills weren't his own, not originally at least. Instead they came from the real-world equivalent to Sherlock Holmes. He remembered when he first met the guy; and how they were able to piece together ancient vampire ruins just by looking at him. Will remembered how impressed Watson had seemed at Will's capabilities… but it wasn't for the reasons he thought it had been.

"So everything I am and I can do is thanks to 'The Five'," Will said after a moment, letting it sink in further.

"Well, really just myself and Watson. Although I suppose that absolutely none of this would have happened without our existing." Magnus said, a little more light heartedly than before. The last few pieces clicked into place.

"So then my Dad married Mom and I guess cause I was so young I was none the wiser," Will began, speaking aloud to make sure he had the story straight, "But she died and you realized, I don't know, that I could never really be normal. So you decided to keep an eye on me. A distant far away one, but an eye. You paid for my college tuition. And eventually hit me with your car. And decided to keep it a secret from me because you didn't want to freak me out"

"That's it. You've got it exactly." Magnus said nodding, "I brought you to the Sanctuary as you know with the full intention that someday you could take over in case of my absence or at least be my second."

"Yea, of course. But what I don't get is Ashley." Will said then, "She wasn't that much younger than me. Why did you have her after the disaster I turned out to be?"

"Ashley… well… I'd decided that I was ready to test fate. To try again. I wanted a sense of normalcy. Something, well…" Magnus trailed off uselessly like she tended to when Ashley was on her mind.

"I get it. I think." Will said with a nod. They sat in silence for a few moments more before he spoke up again, "So, what happens now?"

"Now? Now we keep doing what we've always done. We run the Sanctuary." Magnus said getting to her feet, "Any objections?"

"No, None." Will said getting up and following after her, after his Mother, that was a weird thought he'd have to get used to.

"And Will, do you mind if others know about this?" Magnus asked, looking him dead in the eye.

"No." Will said raising a brow in confusion, "Why?"

"Because I think we are about to find an eavesdropping werewolf and vampire on the other side of this door." She said, pulling it open to have Tesla and Henry land in a heap on the floor of her office.

"It was Tesla's idea!" Henry piped up immediately, "he said that you were thinking about upgrading the servers and I was curious and-"

"My idea? Fluffy I'm pretty sure that you're the one who said that Magnus was cutting science funding!" The vampire shot back.

"Gentlemen, please, contain yourselves. Will and I have just had a lengthy discussion. Which we would be happy to share with you provided you get off of my office floor."

"Yes Ma'am." Henry said instantly and both he and Tesla got to their feet; still bickering on the way up.

Will chuckled, even though things were clearly gonna be different around here now; some things never changed. The Sanctuary was a family, a screwed up one made up of all different sorts of people, but a family. And nothing would ever change that.

* * *

Sanctuary One shot :o

This is a headcanon I've had kicking around for a really long while. Mostly just wrote it down as practice writing.

It's probably totally cracked to a lot of people, but I think it fills in the gaps rather nicely :3


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